Expert Analysis

• How 3 CFTC Letters Overhauled Digital Asset Guidance

  

  The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently issued three letters providing guidance for the use of digital assets in derivatives markets, clarifying the applicability of CFTC regulations across numerous areas of digital asset activities and leading to the development of standards to allow market participants to post digital assets as collateral, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• How 2 Tech Statutes Are Being Applied To Agentic AI

  

  The application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the California Invasion of Privacy Act to agentic artificial intelligence is still developing, but recent case law, like Amazon's lawsuit against Perplexity in California federal court, provides some initial guidance for companies developing or deploying these technologies, say attorneys at Weil.

• FTC Focus: Testing Joint Enforcement Over Loyalty Programs

  

  The Federal Trade Commission's case against Syngenta can be understood both as a canary for further scrutiny over loyalty-discount practices and a signal of the durability of joint federal-state antitrust enforcement, with key takeaways for practitioners and those subject to regulatory antitrust scrutiny alike, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

  

  Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

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  The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

  

  While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

• 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

  

  Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

• 3 Key Ohio Financial Services Developments From 2025

  

  Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw particularly notable developments in 2025, including a significant Ohio Supreme Court decision on creditor disclosure duties to guarantors in Huntington National Bank v. Schneider, and some major proposed changes to the state's Homebuyer Plus program, says Alex Durst at Durst Kerridge.

• Privacy Ruling Shows How CIPA Conflicts With Modern Tech

  

  A California federal court's recent holding in Doe v. Eating Recovery Center that Meta is not liable for reading, or attempting to read, the pixel-related transmission while in transit reflects a mismatch between the California Invasion of Privacy Act's 1967 origins and modern encrypted, browser‑driven communications, says David Wheeler at Neal Gerber.

• Rescheduling Cannabis Marks New Tax Era For Operators

  

  As the attorney general takes steps to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, operators and advisers should prepare by considering the significant changes this will bring from tax, state, industry and market perspectives, says Michael Harlow at CohnReznick.

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  Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

• Justices' BDO Denial May Allow For Increased Auditor Liability

  

  The Supreme Court's recent denial of certiorari in BDO v. New England Carpenters could lead to more actions filed against accounting firms, as it lets stand a 2024 Second Circuit ruling that provided a road map for pleading falsity with respect to audit certifications, says Dean Conway at Carlton Fields.

• FTO Designations: Containing Foreign Firms' Legal Risks

  

  Non-U.S. companies can contain legal risks related to foreign terrorist organizations by deliberately structuring operations to demonstrate that any interactions with cartel-affected environments are incidental, constrained and unrelated to advancing harm on the U.S., says David Raskin at Nardello & Co.

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: January Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five rulings from October and November, and identifies practice tips from cases involving consumer fraud, oil and gas leases, toxic torts, and wage and hour issues.

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  Judges On AI: How Judicial Use Informs Guardrails

  

  U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado discusses why having a sense of how generative AI tools behave, where they add value, where they introduce risk and how they are reshaping the practice of law is key for today's judges.

• What Businesses Offering AI Should Expect From The FTC

  

  The Federal Trade Commission's move to reopen and set aside an administrative order against Rytr shows that the FTC is serious about executing on the administration's Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, and won't stand in the way of businesses offering AI products with pro-consumer, legitimate uses, say attorneys at Reed Smith.